Political Quotes

“The amendment simply strikes section 329 from the Interior appropriations bill we are now considering. Section 329 is a rider that is intended to overturn recent decisions handed down by the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals and the Federal District Court in Washington State dealing with national forests. These courts were asked to examine the activities of the Forest Service and BLM to determine whether, in allowing certain timber sales from public lands, they complied with their own regulations and resource management plans that were developed under the National Forest Management Act. The courts found that they did not comply and disallowed the sales until they did. The forest plans guide the Federal decision-making, so that one activity in the national forests such as logging does not occur in detriment to other uses. These plans apply only to national forest land--Federal land--not private land. This is land held in trust for all people and all uses, and the Forest Service and BLM are charged with ensuring that decisions involving these public treasures are made wisely. We in Congress continually insist that Federal regulators operate using good science. But there is no good science without good data. Section 329, which my amendment would strike, would relieve the Forest Service from the obligation to develop any new data.”